The first day of this rare county appearance for James Anderson had been bad enough, as he failed to take a wicket and suffered a painful blow to the thumb. But the second was far worse, as he was dismissed for a golden duck by Graeme Swann, of all people, and then was able to bowl only one over in Nottinghamshire's second innings because of illness.

Lancashire remain hopeful that he will be well enough to play a larger part on day three, but it will take something remarkable now if the champions are to avoid a third defeat in four fixtures. Their good work of the opening day was wrecked by Andre Adams, who earned career-best figures of seven for 32 with a performance of which even Sir Richard Hadlee, another New Zealander who gave Nottinghamshire such outstanding service, would have been proud.

He only managed two in the morning session as Lancashire progressed steadily enough from 48 for one to 129 for four. But crucially, Swann winkled out Ashwell Prince, their one batsman of proven class, in his first over of the day. That set the stage for a horrific post-lunch collapse as the last six wickets tumbled for 15 inside 12 overs – four more for Adams and the last two for Swann.

There had been doubts over whether Anderson would risk batting with his bruised right thumb, and it was clear from his body language on a long, slow shuffle to the crease that something was wrong. It turned out to be "some sort of fluey virus" according to Lancashire's coach, Peter Moores. "He's not been feeling well at all."

Swann was predictably unsympathetic, "running in to bowl with a big grin on his face", according to Adams. The ball "went straight on between bat and pad, the way Swanny gets so many left-handers out". Swann celebrated wildly with Stuart Broad who was fielding at mid-off, leaving Anderson to make another long, slow trudge in the opposite direction.

He did re-emerge for the start of Nottinghamshire's second innings but struggled to complete even one over before returning to the executive boxes that have been converted to serve as makeshift dressing rooms during Old Trafford's redevelopment. It was a surprise to see him shuffling back out to the middle half an hour or so after tea, but it turned out that was only to check whether he needed to field for a decent period to be allowed to bowl the following morning. Once the umpires had confirmed that was not required, Anderson disappeared again.

With Tom Smith unable to bowl or field after suffering a hamstring injury on the opening day, Lancashire were left with Glen Chapple as a lone specialist seamer plus Luke Procter's occasional and unorthodox medium pace and Simon Kerrigan's left-arm spin. Chapple removed Alex Hales cheaply for the second time in the match, but the left-handers Neil Edwards and Michael Lumb then combined patience and skill with the odd slice of luck to put on 79 in 34 overs.

Notts will resume with a lead of 145 and Adams reckoned that "if we can get 200 ahead, which would be a bare minimum from here, it's going to be a very tough ask for them. The pitch doesn't have the pace and carry of the ones you used to get at Old Trafford, it's very two-paced and a little bit up and down." Broad will hope to exploit it more effectively than he managed in his first bowl in more than a month, ending wicketless after 14 comparatively expensive overs.